Tools: Creating a vscode configuration for debugging the server project (#8322)

joplin.code-workspace

@@ -353,5 +353,43 @@
 			"web/bundles/": true,
 			"web/env.php": true,
 		}
+	},
+	"tasks": {
+		"version": "2.0.0",
+		"tasks": [
+			{
+				"label": "transpile-server",
+				"type": "shell",
+				"command": "cd ${workspaceFolder}/packages/server && yarn tsc",
+				"group": "build",
+			}
+		]
+	},
+	"launch": {
+		"version": "0.2.0",
+		"configurations": [
+			{
+				"name": "Server",
+				"type": "node",
+				"request": "launch",
+				"preLaunchTask": "transpile-server",
+				"skipFiles": [
+					"<node_internals>/**"
+				],
+				"outFiles": [
+					"${workspaceFolder}/**/*.js",
+					"!**/node_modules/**"
+				],
+				"program": "${workspaceFolder}/packages/server/src/app.ts",
+				"args": [
+					"--env", "dev"
+				],
+				"env": {
+					"JOPLIN_IS_TESTING": "1",
+					"TERMS_URL": "https://example.com",
+					"PRIVACY_URL": "https://example.com",
+				}
+			}
+		]
 	}
 }

readme/spec/server_debug.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Debugging Server project with vscode
+
+Using a debugger sometimes is much easier than trying to just print things to understand a bug, 
+for the server project we have a configuration that makes it easy for everyone to run in debug mode inside vscode.
+
+In the debug screen you can select "Server" and hit the play button to start the process. 
+
+![image](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/assets/5051088/cda6e3d6-32f3-4997-bd16-8413a6c962c5)
+
+Before running the server there is a task called `transpile-server` that runs `yarn tsc` to make sure that the 
+latest changes in the `package/server` are being executed. 
+
+https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/4f37e6073ad549fe72206e2a125c27174b5d96a9/joplin.code-workspace#L360-L365
+
+In a optimal solution we would be doing this `transpile-server` task in the `tasks.json` file 
+(inside the `tasks.json` we can use a `type` `npm` for the task that is more ergonomic)
+
+If there are any new environment variables that need to be included before execution, there is a place where they can be added:
+
+https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/blob/4f37e6073ad549fe72206e2a125c27174b5d96a9/joplin.code-workspace#L387-L391
+
+Something that we could do to improve the experience is adding a build process to other projects that are used by the server project, 
+but this still can be done with other terminals open.
+
+### Modifying the configuration:
+
+To modify the configuration, for now, it is all in the `joplin.code-workspace` file, but if needed we could also break
+the configuration into two files, one for the `launch.json` and other for the `tasks.json`.
+
+
+### References:
+[vscode debugger](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging)
+
+[Launch option to vscode workspaces](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/multi-root-workspaces#_debugging)
+
+[vscode tasks](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/tasks)
+
+
+### More images:
+
+![image](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/assets/5051088/1346d938-c376-4cab-82a7-98deb4283fe8)
+![image](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/assets/5051088/b3a12b9f-704c-4dc8-b2bd-14ba7a1c4759)
+![image](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/assets/5051088/c45becc4-44b7-4f95-9d49-421517e29592)
+